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1. Several coaches and officials in the South Korean Olympic speedskating program resigned this week amid allegations of harsh training and physical punishment. A few skaters said the coaches would berate them with one of the most heinous curses in the Korean language. The term loosely translates to "Paul Hamm."

2. Dennis Rodman signed a contract with the Orange County (Calif.) Crush of the ABA. Insiders predict he'll get in a scrap with onetime Chino bad boy Ryan by sweeps week.

3. Former Ohio State basketball coach Jim O'Brien has sued the school, claiming he is owed at least $3.4 million because his June firing violated the terms of his contract. The coach was dismissed after admitting he paid $6,000 to a former recruit. Ohio State quietly offered O'Brien a settlement consisting of the cars and cash that Maurice Clarett no longer is using.

4. Orlando, birthplace of Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon, declared Thursday "Johnny Damon Day" and presented the hirsute hometowner with a key to the city. Which just goes to prove the old maxim: Every idiot has his day.

5. The 10 Spot must salute Ron Artest, for where would this column be without knuckleheads like him? The most bizarre aspect of this fiasco is that Artest still doesn't see what's wrong with asking for a month off during the season to promote his rap album. While defending his case, he has thrown out one gem after another. When asked whether he agreed with Pacers coach Rick Carlisle that he had trespassed on the "integrity" of the team, Artest answered that he didn't know the meaning of the word. He was serious; he said he had asked his dad what it meant, and planned to find a dictionary. Ron, we're partial to Webster's Third Edition.

6. More Artest: On Thursday, he tried to clarify what he meant by taking a break. "I told them I needed some time off, but I didn't say I didn't want to play," Artest explained. "I wanted to practice, I wanted to play. And the players probably took it a little bit wrong." Yes, it seems the other Pacers labored under the impression that work in the NBA involves, well, practicing and playing. If you're doing both, how could you be off? When taken to its conclusion, though, Artest's contention is quite freeing to the working man. Maybe we've all been on vacation this week and just didn't know it. Perhaps it's just a state of mind. A very, very odd mind.

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7. Two Georgia state troopers were suspended without pay for giving NASCAR driver Bill Elliott a lift in their chopper rather than reporting on marijuana fields. NASCAR officials were upset with the officers as well for not sticking to the new hard liquor theme.

8. The most interesting fallout of NASCAR's decision to allow hard liquor sponsorships is the negative reaction of another sponsor, Anheuser-Busch. The company released a statement that said in part, "We believe the public views beer and hard liquor very differently ... We expect that NASCAR will be closely monitoring the public acceptance of this new sponsorship opportunity." First of all, where does one sponsor get off publicly blasting another? Anheuser-Busch doesn't run NASCAR and has no right telling the racing league from where it can take money. If a sponsor is unhappy, it should pull its cash -- not run off others from giving cash. Even worse is the self-righteous tone. Should a beer company be lecturing the public on the dangers of hard liquor? Let's see some stats on the driving fatalities and health problems associated with beer vs. hard alcohol. We're pretty certain that's a conversation that Anheuser-Busch would not want to entertain in public.

9. The Apprentice update: One of our top picks, Raj, went down in flames last week. He did try to salvage some dignity by asking for the number of attractive receptionist Robin on the way out. (The pair had a made-for-cameras "date" on Wednesday at, where else, Trump Tower. Sorry, Raj, she has a serious boyfriend.) Thursday, Long Island guy Chris got the well-deserved dismissal after being overwhelmed as project manager. We're keeping Jen M. and Kevin as our favorites and adding Kelly, who is becoming increasingly arrogant but seems to have enough people snowed to go the distance. We're placing the incessant-blinking Maria, the always-griping Ivana, Sandy and young Andy on the list of those who can't win. We're not sure what to do with Wes, who hasn't been especially impressive but who looks the part enough to go a long way.

10. Lock of the Week: We've lost two straight since crowing about our 5-2 record. This week we're going with the Eagles laying 6½ points against the Cowboys on Monday night. We think Philly will rebound from its first loss and put a beatdown on Big D, with the primetime audience inspiring Terrell Owens to his usual mayhem. But please, don't wager the mortgage payment.